Ableton Producer tries Reaper and DIES. 

There's a GREAT reaction video done by The REAPEr Blog. I encourage you to watch it and ACTUALLY learn about this wonderful program. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g-XOeJImWf8.html

As a reaper user I can confirm that the default settings are like "hey, this is your mixer and arrangement, whatever you do from now on is not my problem"

Reaper is like a small house but when you go in the house, its a freaking mansion

I've spent like 3 years in this daw, and i can tell that with a little bit of practice i could replicate other daws Workflow, but i could not replicate my reaper workflow in other daws

Reaper is my first DAW, so I didn't actually know that others are more "intuitive". I watched great videos like the REAPER Mania channel and customized my workflow exactly how I want it. After a couple of weeks, I could do everything so quickly and intuitively. It's perfect! I bought awesome plugins with the money I saved on my DAW!

This makes me feel better about reaper being my first daw and feeling like an absolute smooth brain

The hidden beauty of Reaper is that you can do almost anything WITHOUT operning any menu....Right click any parameter to automate it, instead of entering that terrifiyng and enless parameter list.Doble click to create a track, push V to automate volume P to Pan. Alt click items border to time stretch Alt -7/8/9/0 to pitch shift them.....

The trick is to use the "/" key to show the actions list. No menu diving. Actions list diving instead.

Reaper is a DIY DAW (do it yourself DAW). If you're good with that and want to control everything (I do -- I came from Nuendo) then great. Reaper scripting and the scrips and community is great. If you want ease-of-use out of the box, I'd recommend Cubase or Logic.

I have tried other daws like FL Studio , abelton , pro tools...... while those daws are also good..... i always found myself going back to reaper. it has literally everything i need. going back to Reaper after using a different daw was like putting on my favorite pair of already completetly broken in air force ones.

laughed so hard when you opened that automation, haha great video

Reaper has SO many features and most are undiscoverable hidden deep in the daw, and once you learn them, you are never going to lose that precious information.

Great video and I can so relate! I come from a Pro Tools background in film sound design, where I still have to cut to picture in Pro Tools. But since Pro Tools only allows one session open at a time was looking for something else I could have open at the same time as my "working to picture" session. I started out thinking I'd just make a few sounds for my library that I'd then cut into projects, inside Pro Tools. I had no idea the beast I'd unleash as the capabilities in Reaper revealed themselves. That was 2015. Now I only boot Pro Tools when I have to, which is still fairly often due to client requirements and studio collaborations. Again that is for film post production. Nowadays, 1000%, I go for Reaper first whenever I think of anything DAW related. Whether it's sound design for film & games, writing a song, or any audio manipulation, I go to Reaper. FWIW you did WAAAAAAAY better than I did when I first tried it. :)

After 3 years with Nuendo, Cubase, Sonar, and another 12 years of PT, I finally found Reaper 3 years ago. What a bliss. I sometimes look into other DAWs’ latest features just to say “oh I can do that in Reaper”.

after trying them all out Reaper was the only one that would let me do my thing without getting in my way, the only daw that will record with ANY audio interface ever made and the easiest and most intuitive daw to use, but's that my experience. what ever works for you is good......

When I switched to reaper. I went into pro tools and recorded the metronome clicks so I could drop them into reaper and use them in it’s metronome. I agree, reaper’s default metronome is hard to follow.

I felt the exact same way when I opened Reaper for the first time. Then I tried out 10 other DAWs and the stability and speed of Reaper was unmatched. I think Ableton is hands down the best for creativity and spontaneity, but Reaper is super powerful for more intentional music creation once you get past the UI quirks.

I'm honestly impressed by how quickly you figured it out. Great video man. You are right, it's the DAW of choice for programmers for sure. In terms of DAWs, I have used ProTools, Reason and REAPER. And reaper is by far the most powerful of the ones I've used. It's not as user-friendly at first, but in the long run it feels like it works for you, rather than you working for it. It can do an insane amount of heavy lifting all for a tiny, lightweight 16MB download. The custom actions, video editing and subprojects are absolutely insane when you start getting clever with it. All HUGE timesavers. Also the entirely customisable toolbars and shortcuts are incredible and addictive. RU-vidrs Kenny gioia and IDDQD Sound have taught me everything I could ever want to know about this amazing DAW. And I've barely ever had to dive into forums to find out how to do things. Everything is just a RU-vid search away. But I remember when I first started, sometimes it felt like the simplest tasks were hidden away in menus but when you right click you are bombarded with options that 90% of you don't even understand. But yeah, the more I use reaper the more obsessed I become. The best 60 bucks I have EVER spent in my life. I kinda wish cockos made other software and operating systems with the power, reliability and flexibility of reaper. I wish my phone functioned like reaper. Everything else seems so sluggish, restricted and inefficient in comparison

I'm a programmer and musician, and my programmer brain dies whenever I start Reaper. I love it, but I also fully accept it took a while and a lot of prep work before I could be creative in it.

After a couple of years working in Reaper I was literally laughing out loud while watching this video:) Yeah, it took 1 or 2 years to complete my own config suitable exactly for my workflow. It took also a little programming skills, because if you need some unique features, you have Reaper's opened API, and, actually the sky's the limit. For instance, if I want add a lowpass filter on my track and show frequency envelope, I don't need to manually find specific plugin, add it on track, click on specific button, show envelope... Script do all this stuff by hitting one key, and there you go. If after that I want to add a highpass filter on exact track, I hit one more key and certain script finds exact filter plugin on my track chain and shows me highpass frequency envelope. This script can analyze track chain and decide wheather it should add a new filter plugin in the chain or manage already existed plugin in the chain. And it's only one script. Hundreds of hours saved. That's the magic of Reaper.

Subscribed. I'm an FL to Reaper convert but i do agree with all you said. I was more creative with FL Studio. Tried quitting but i just miss it's flexibility that no other DAWs at the moment could match. I might get Ableton this christmas for a change but will definitely stay with reaper.

Great video Reaper is like the linux version of Cubase. I've used ableton in the past its great for loopy dance 4/4 stuff but other than that for audio editing and stuff it sucks feels like a slot machine. Even though the daw lets you be creative with sample manipulation a good example is what Gotye used to do with Ableton.

When practising jamming to backing tracks, I love that the keyboard shortcuts shift-9 and shift-0 [i.e. ( and )] shift the pitch of a clip up and down a semi. I also have to confess that I prefer coding in JS to wiring things together in M4L, where too many things are shoehorned into the patcher way of doing things.

Once you pare the context menus down to the 3 things you actually use it's pure bliss. The best thing about using Reaper is not needing to remember how.

Just earned yourself a new sub. The fact you are entertaining without coming off as fake and cringey like most videos of this nature is refreshing. With that said, I produce in FL Studio which I really enjoy and I've been recording vocals and mixing inside PT for about 15 years. But I've found myself wanting to migrate away from the greedy practices of Avid. However, I'm just so used to PT that it seems like a real pain in the ass to learn a new daw. PT while ancient in ways in terms of code etc, just works well for recording and mixing. Or perhaps I'm just being stubborn. With that said, I've been tinkering with Reaper and I really want to like it and it has features that I think are interesting, the reaper community seems really great and helpful, not to mention how light weight it is and how stable it is. However, there is just something about it that I can't "click" with. When I do mess with it I spend most of my time tinkering with stuff and trying to get it to operate how I want it to and inevitably end up killing me creativity in the moment. Also, one thing I have noticed is that I've downloaded a trial of Studio One last night to play with, I've had PT for years and I have FL Studio as well. All 3 of those programs recognize ALL of my 3rd party plugins with ZERO problem. However, Reaper is the only one that gives me grief in that regard. It will notice half of my plugins then I got down a rabbit hole online trying to figure out how to get it to recognize the rest of them. While that might seem like an easy fix to some who use Reaper often, it's not something I think I should have to deal with in 2022. None of the other programs gave me any grief at all and I didn't have to troubleshoot that aspect in any way. EXCEPT for REAPER. It's slightly irritating. I'm also thinking about giving studio one a solid try as it has some interesting aspects that intrigue me like the separation between the song page and project page (which is quite interesting) for mastering, the simplified exporting for specific streaming services, etc etc. If only FL studio was as seamless in terms of vocal editing and automation etc like PT or for instance S1 I'd have it all in one daw, along with free updates for life and no subscription or paid update bs like with PT and S1. It's always a give and take.

I love REAPER (name checks out), but I can see where you're coming from in some respects. The way you looked at REAPER as a first time user is the same way I feel when trying out a synth plugin. I have historically worked with "live audio" and as such am pretty much a MIDI virgin. All that said, i think most people approach a new DAW with the lens of the one they are used to. It's easy to get confused and maybe even frustrated with a DAW doesn't perform exactly how you think it should. But as with any new application, it takes time. Granted some things could stand to be a bit more intuitive, but as you said, its a VERY capable DAW. It doesn't come with much in the way of virtual instruments, and from my perspective, I would rather pay less money for a fully functional DAW with basic to advanced (unattractive but functional) plugins that get work done than to pay a high price or subscription just to have access to some virtual instruments I won't use. Leaves you with money to buy a few plugins you actually want. Anyways, this was an entertaining video, nicely done! I'm gonna be singing that vocal take song for days now :)

Reaper Features 1. 64 audio channels per mixer track 2. Advanced routing features 3. Advanced "side chaining" for All parameters 4. Built-in pitch correction (both auto & manual) 5. Great stock (fx) plugins plus use any 3rd party plugin format 6. Extremely Advanced render options & render queue with flexible naming options when rendering multiple items. 7. 16 customizable tool bars 8. Create your own keyboard shortcuts 9. Create custom macros which automates multiple commands into 1 action then map that to a keyboard shortcut 10. Portable install 11. Advanced multiple layered "track freeze" with the ability to go all the way back to the original state even after closing the project 12. Load project in offline mode to troubleshoot buggy vsts 13. Extremely low RAM & CPU usage 14. Amazing noise removal 15. Vocal alignment function built-in 16. Versatile time Stretch options 17. Open & switch between multiple sessions 18. Remote session collaboration tools (NinJAM) 19. Online repository with over 2000 community based enhancements including plugins 20. Sub-project linking. Great for Mastering workflow 21. Remote control daw via any web browser 22. ChordGUN for Key/chord degree music theory workflow 23. MIDI key lock 24. Save "undo" as a part the project for unlimited "undos" at anytime 25. Loop record & create take lanes for both audio & midi to capture the perfect performance or use comping to achieve the perfect take 26. Tempo lock samples to your project with built-in sample browser 27. Delta solo 28. Ara support 29. Agnostic tracks... Meaning there are no specific track type. 30. Put Midi, audio, mono, stereo, video or image files, all on the same track 31. Media browser can show 🎶 notes being played in the sample being previewed 32. Video editing & rendering 33. Oversampling for any individual plugin 34. Oversampling for any plugin chain 35. Spectral audio editing 36. Separate GLOBAL slots for Monitor FX 37. Parallel processing for any plugin 38. Advanced automation clip editing & manipulation 39. Midi side processing workflow available for any plugin

Anything you want to know about Reaper: Kenny has made a video about it at Reaper Mania.

reaper getting officially ported to linux was a deal-breaker for me. i've been using it for years but started to get a little tired of working 'in the box' all the time. but linux makes audio fun again, for me. combining it with pipewire-jack and all the sick jack tools that have been made over the years, on top of some hardware going thru a sound interface.. it feel like you can do anything.

That was very entertaining. :D I use Reaper because it handles audio tracks so well. As for instruments, I'm not a fan of DAWs that are gigabytes in size because of their mega wav sampled instruments. Having said that, softsynths can be pretty darn small, so Cockos could definitely include some of those with Reaper, IMO. :)

Reaper is not open source like Ardour. But it does have a very powerful scripting API

Very entertaining video. I've never once regretted switching to Reaper. In almost 6 years of use, I've only discovered one thing that Reaper couldn't do and that is to change the colour of an automation curve. Other than that, one will usually discover how to do something in the Reaper forums or on RU-vid. BTW, sometimes the vastness of Reaper's functionality, fools one into assuming things will be complex to do, when in fact, there might be laughably simple ways of doing those things. For example, at the point in the video where you were searching for a way of changing the pitch of audio in the item properties, you could have simply selected the item and pressed the + and - keys on your keyboard.

12:15 Best way to do that is using the Param button from the plugin window. Param > show last touched control in the automatition lane

Reaper is objectively the best DAW as long as you don't factor in idiot proofing to your criteria.

That fine tuning of the tempo caught my attention. I've never used a DAW that didn't have issues syncing live analog with new digital arpeggiators. Will it allow me to do what Ableton wasn't capable of?

Thanks for this lol I feel a little less stupid now I’ve basically using whatever daw is available to me in any moment for 7 years (usually because im with my friends who have the programs) and after figuring out the terminology and all that I could at least navigate and make what I wanted, eventually. And then I open this bad boy and it felt like the first time I opened garageband like 10 years ago. This is definitely the one for me though, the customization is key. And price helps too lol

Entertaining vid and some good points made. For me though, not coming with gigabytes of content and vst instruments is a big plus. I like the 'roll your own' approach. Loads of good free instruments out there which people can choose to taste.

12:30 this is where it's worth knowing, in advance, if the 'show only last touched' option. I would love something that works a bit like Ableton's where you can click e.g. 10 controls in a row and get a list of params you can map/control.

Awesome video, pretty spot on. Reaper is amazing for automating workflows. You can macro almost any command. Once you have a workflow that works for you, you can optimize Reaper to pump out monsterous compositions like a breeze.

Many years ago I was using cubase and for some reason I was considering replacing my DAW so I tried studio one, a very early version, I remember the version number was 2.0, I made a song with it but I found that at that time studio one seemed to have problems with the sound when using kontakt so I gave up on studio one I tried reaper, and when I couldn't even finish a song with reaper I admitted my stupidity, so I gave up on reaper and went back to cubase again. A few years later, for some reason, I was determined to change my DAW again, so I chose reaper, and even though it was a big challenge for me, I settled down and started learning it. Now, years later, I can't live without reaper. It has become my right-hand man and not only does my job effectively, but it has also become my child, as I have taught reaper to do so many things. Note: It's not the reaper that teaches me, it's me that teaches it. So, I think it's important not to think of it as an easy-to-use tool when you first get it, but to raise it as a child. Now, I love my kids.

Have used Reaper for years with FANTASTIC results, and have hardly ever needed to look at instructions, it's very intuitive and sensible-- yet unlimited potential. I use most default settings, no issues.

Your response to the automation menu of a plugin with alot of controls is not an exaggeration! It truly is overwhelming, especially when you don't know how to find what you're looking for! 😅 You can also adjust each parameter by clicking on it in the main plugin window and then going to reapers automation window and clicking "show last touched fx parameter only".

Great Video. my first DAW in the 90s was then i tried Ableton which i struggled with, i felt i had to be a technician and not a musician to understand it. i gave up, i could not get my head around it, stacking clips was not how i visioned music (at that time). Adobe Audition (cool Edit Pro, it was called back then) was ok, but no vsti's included. Reaper was intuitive for me right away, it does come with a virtual synth (ReaSynth) included in all of the versions (i have version Reaper 4 to present day). It can be very simple or very complicated... Also Reaper has some great tutorials which helped me go deeper into the DAW. I still am trying to understand Ableton, Cubase and now Reason, but Reaper is so intuitive and it is great for Recording and Post Production. Low on CPU. There are so many possibilities it can be too much, but if you stay with 1 workflow, then no problem. I have collected a lot of external vsti's and Reaper plays all of them. Also the ReWire was easy too so i can include Ableton's and Reason's vsti's in Reaper.

I tried to start with the trial version of Ableton when I first hooked up my interface. It was nothing like I thought a daw would be. Not to mention the limit of 8 tracks. I downloaded Reaper and had unlimited tracks from the beginning. It seemed more like what I imagined. Now I love it and I can see personalizing more and more as time goes on. I was so blown away that I was happy to give them the 60 bucks after the 60 days Just 2 cents from someone with much less experience. To me, Ableton was freaking me out and Reaper was just more comfortable.

I'm in college studying sound production,we use pro tools and cubase on campus but I find myself always using reaper at home

Heheh you tuned the bass manually instead of using the included Sampler VSTi. Some people hate the sampler and calls it very basic, but I actually love it. I made a convincing strings sound the other day with tasty portamento and layers of articulation. With a script the sampler could also turn into drum rack/sampler. Just amazing stuff.

Reaper is the most sleeper-built DAW in the world. It looks like the most basic, cheap ameturistic toy from outside but the more you use it the more you'll realize how much in-depth, powerful, flexible and feature rich it is. And then you combine it with the community-made scripts and it's unbeatable. I've used FL, Ableton, and Pro tools since 2016 but I swear there's nothing Reaper can't do. If the vanilla version doesn't have anything specific, there's a custom community-made script just for it. Absolutely insane.

Recently spent about 4 months testing all the big DAWs and chose Reaper in the end. This video is spot on that it’s a steep learning curve, but oh my god is it worth it! You can make it do whatever you want to fit your flow, even if it’s not obvious how at first.

I've been using Reaper for years for recording rock/metal guitar ideas, however when it comes to producing electronic music recently, I find it is such a nightmare. Too many steps just for doing one small task, it can be overwhelming and get in the way of my creativity. I'm thinking of switching over to Ableton just for electronic producing since it looks much more simplified for a quicker workflow.

I love that moment when you was wondering why your midi dont work i mean you dont hear it i just started with reaper and had the same problem 😅

After messing around with Audacity for a little bit, i tried a stripped down version of Cubase that came with my Audio Interface, and i hated it. I then bought Reaper because it was cheap, and that was that. What i like about it is that the way everything is laid out makes sense.

As a daily reaper user, this was extremely entertaining !

I have a Desktop and a Laptop. The Desktop is has enough processing power to use run Ableton Live. But on the other hand the Laptop is like s**t so I use Linux and Reaper there. I have customized Reaper to look(Applied rLive theme) and behave(Changed shortcut keys, scrolling and zooming) like Ableton Live. It's actually good but I still love Ableton's simplicity and it's fast workflow. It have created shortcuts for automation touch and read mode and envelope show hide for all tracks. It's not hard to customize but it takes time.

I was waiting for you to open the automation (😲😲😲) Made my day 😂

It's the second one I'm using. The first one I used was Acoustica Mixcraft. I just started using Reaper last night, and it is so alien to me. But I'm getting help with learning it.

I've used extensively just about any DAW you can think of (even N-Track for godsakes), and found that Reaper was far and away the best for my purposes. Yes, it takes some time to get your head around, but once you do, there's no turning back.

I'm a bit late but this was fun to watch haha. Just tried reaper myself a week ago. Its so complicated yet efficient lol

First DAW I ever used was Logic which I did use in a limited sense in the late 90's (college). I am a guitarist and was focused on playing more than recording until about 6/7 years ago so my experience with DAWs, although spanning much time, has only really been rich in quantity in the last 6/7 years. So although Logic was the first DAW I used, Reaper which I bought 6/7 years ago was the first DAW I had at home, and could get to know in any sort of aptitude. So really Reaper is my first DAW, so I am used to it. The cost was the initial draw for me, but the more I have learnt the more I am happy with my choice. I record guitars and Bass and use the midi side of things for drums and some atmospheric background elements with VSTi's. I feel Reaper is really well set up for that kind of thing. The majority of Reaper users I have come across are usually Musicians who have learned mixing because they wanted to mix their own stuff. So its really capable of all things, but at the same time I agree its overwhelming at first. What I will say is, I thin its something that when you learn how to set up the work flow you want , it becomes really fast. You only have to learn a few things for certain workflows, and you can also usually change these and run skins that can give you workflows modelled on other DAWs. The community is full of people coding skins, themes, plugins. I personally am not code minded at all, but I am very musician mindset orientated when it comes to using DAWs, and I find Reaper actually easier to use than I found Logic although that was likely partly due to it being early Logic). Reaper is flexible ,and because of the cost, and future proofing of the flexibility I think its one of (if not ) the best DAW for anyone starting, if they are willing to accept they have to learn. Might was well start with Reaper, due to cost, and potential future flexibility (i.e. potential future workflows) , it makes the most sense. It also handles video well, I can really see Reaper becoming huge over the next 10 years , due to its power, cost and open source nature . Also their update model is the best , updates every 2-4 weeks usually . They are very fast to fix any bugs Its also ultra stable and will run on lesser machines than other DAW's The only drawback is that it does not come with VSTi's and from my POV it's the only drawback thats major for a newbie

I started using reaper after garageband, so all this flexibility was just great for me

Reaper is the most powerful DAW --just by looking at the list of actions and the scripts one quickly realizes it--, it is difficult, because is powerful, you can use the basic functions ignoring his power, or use in more advanced mode, It's your decision, it needs lots of study and has a steep learning curve because it is powerful.

Reaper is all about customization and features, because it enables scripting . If daws were cars, Reaper would be like buying a Honda Civic but putting in a twin turbo, racing suspension, nitro booster, hydraulic short throw shifter, low profile extra wide tires, titanium wheels and carbon brakes. For free. You then end up with a car that keeps up with a Ferrari.

I came from Studio One to Reaper. UI serves me well, but I'm a veteran programmer 😁 I love its flexibility and many options. Its button bar is UgLy. ReaSynth is a kind of LOL. Wish it had more automatic param modulation as in Bitwig modulators. I can see new users wouldn't easily find the rather bare bones lfo based param. modulation.

Hey man can you compare most basic functions like sidechain, routing and show side by side with Ableton and other daws like reaper, cubase

This made me laugh so hard. Its hows I felt at first as well haha. Great vid.

As a committed Reaper user, I think that was an excellent summary of Reaper's advantages and disadvantages, and of what the user experience (generally) feels like when you first encounter Reaper, IF you try to use it without any preparation. Nowadays, though, there are some excellent 'intro.' videos. But, great video, and summary.

Right man! Pros: a lot of short "how to" videos on RU-vid which help you taking it step by step. You find EVERY topic! Thanks 👍

This seems like the vim of DAWs. I'm fascinated

I feel like reaper will reap my soul if I make a bad song

"the linux of DAWs", love it :)

I believe it is NOT only FX included but also basic versions of synth VST and sampler VST as well as many choices for effects items such as compressor, EQ and Delay or Reverb. Not the cool "skinned" versions, but more "utilitarian" versions, but which do work as MIDI instruments and which generally are going to respond to automation as well. There are ample sets of decent free software instruments out there, and there are even PACKAGES which can be loaded (see the real good channels on YT which cover early set up of REAPER) and provide many added modules. A common complaint about REAPER is the old school look and feel, which makes sense because spending time and developer effort on mere look is wasteful, when the underlying engineering and tech has not changed, but the alternative can be for developers to devote themselves to actual feature building. REAPER has obviously built up an incredible amount of features, but yes, it does not provide the features to the user in the most modern of ways. It tends to provide it in old fashioned ways, but also has very basic and intuitive main UI interactions (track oriented, with inserts of FX) already shown to be useful in many DAW from the past. I started with DAW from Sequency Plus in MS DOS, then went on to use Cubase in Windows quite a bit long ago (over 12 years ago). Because I started with DOS I know what these programs wind up doing under the hood. This why I use the "model" I cite (glue together), and talk about presentation. REAPER is definitely NOT built on Python. A look at the Wiki on it says it is built in C, C++ and Assembly Language (which explains why it is so small and fast). It employs Python as a means of MODIFYING or introducing scripts into your set up. Most top level DAW today provide for some kind of programming modification like this using perhaps LUA or Python as a script or modifying language. REAPER is obviously insanely customizable, and in fact there is a robust community who have devised set ups to load which will make your REAPER install look like all sorts of cool things including imitated versions which look a lot like other famous DAW software. You appeared to have stumbled upon a key bind page which can provide for basically any of the actions or methods within REAPER being assigned to any key set. You should also be aware that no matter what you do to a DAW program, it will not harm your computer in any way, and thus getting frightened of what you see on the User Interface (UI) is not a good habit to develop (at worst it can waste time - but then simply doing some study and watching some videos; perhaps imitating them will get you easily past the early stages with a thing like this and will save the emotional rollercoaster stuff). The screen can show all sorts of stuff and sure, it can overwhelm because anything with more than a handful of choices is guaranteed to overwhelm the user (so many hundreds is super overwhelming). But we all should get really comfortable with the ELECTRONICS of computers, and realize what is permanent damage and what is just temporary and worthy of undo, or perhaps at worst a reinstall (a bit like your character in a game dying; you just respawn). DAW software is designed around non-destructive "take" recording, so we store up digital audio or groups of MIDI data, then the DAW shows that and essentially glues it together to produce production sound or music output. The gluing is basically near instant, so it sounds like one seamless whole. Those who have simplicity of appearance as their primary goal, would probably not like REAPER, but those who want to avoid paying loads of money, want strong features, and do not mind some outside learning to get ahead will probably like REAPER. A plus is the small size, and the lack of bothersome crashes. If you are good at picking up new software REAPER makes tons of sense to try out. It is generous with trial handling, and is super cheap once you want to buy it. Still it is heavy with features. The support community is large and growing rapidly.

Fun fact: The creator of Reaper is the same dude that created Winamp

When you understand Reaper . . Maaaan what a DAW. Then you can make it as simple as you want it for creativity or as advanced as you want. Crazy good and with "Actions" and "Scripts" you will save tons of time on editing and other stuff. One of my favorite built action: Draw a time selection on a audio item - click on it and it removes the selected part and auto fadein/fadeouts the item by on click.

With Reaper, right, middle and left click everywhere, and on any thing...take notes. Go into the preferences panel after a nice meal, and set things as desired. Using the Linux Reaper with the U-he linux synth and fx ports is other-worldly. Add the revitalized Surge synth, and the surging Vital synth, and it's party ON!

I've been using REAPER to edit and record my podcast and do 'audio editing/mastering' stuff regularly since 2018 and really switched over to REAPER from Audition in the early 10's. Yes I can see why you get confused, it does have a Cool Edit feeling which I love. Partly switched cos Audition Mac sucked cos I was one of the public beta testers then to 'reward' us they then made it part of an expensive bundle with no reduction - Adobe was like 'thanks for all your beta testing - sucks to be you!'. So I switched to REAPER. The track routing can be super confusing, and MIDI is a bit fiddly it's gotten a lot better but nowhere as easy as Ableton Live/Lite. Interestingly I do my mashups and more original/MIDI work usually in Ableton, then use REAPER for mastering or sample edits. But for audio recording - always REAPER cos it's rock solid, I never had a crash for 3-4 years, and then the one time it did, super dodgy plugin. That's rare, cos usually the plugin part crashes and doesn't take down the main DAW. Whereas Ableton...can be crashy. And I agree with others, the actions and being able to adapt it - a little fiddly but saves SO much time. Worth working out, cos then you can just shortcut say normalising to a set parameter or have templates you use over and over again....templates save SO much time. Surprised Ableton doesn't have templates, unless I missed that?

Reaper is my first DAW (Well, second. I have Garage band on my iPad, but that only kickstarted my interest in a homestudio). I think i'm fine, with only learning Reaper. t. Liverlong hobby guitar player (since i'm 6 - and for roughly 30 years), with a Rock band, who recently got into synthesizers.

Yes REAPER is complicated. But you can make REAPER simple because it's very customizable. You can even customize the mouse scroll wheel which is I didn't see any other daw. Once you cross the steep learning curve in REAPER, no one can stop your productivity. Great video I really enjoyed.

"I'm scared now" Yup that's extremely relatable. It's like trying to get started using foobar. I've tried to get started so many times and gave up because it scared my brain. It is honestly crazy that foobar hasn't evolved the UI to be more palatable in the last 20 years. Reaper could be really incredible if they un fucked the UI/UX and maybe they will someday

5:30 ReaSynth, ReaSamplomatic, baby sequencer, etc. These are JS FX. Try not to get tricked by the 1998 interface. I use the ReaGate plugin to trigger midi from audio and then followed by the ReaSamplomatic. Instant drum replacer. It has that DIY flavour. It even has a code editor/interpreter so you can modify the existing JS plugins or make your own ones. There is a repository where you can download most plugins made by the users.

If you saw my Reaper installation, you'd be shocked again.. it's totally unrecognizable from default Reaper. The momentum killing is only at the beginning, once you learn how it works and how you can customize it, it gets blazing fast.

"The linux of DAWs" - great line!

Favorite reaction so far: "It's like the Linux of DAWs".

"Linux of DAWs" sounds so perfect!

Reaper supports OSC, so I can use X32ReaperAutoMate and now I have moving fader automation when mixing (I mix OTB with a console). That and more than 10,000 other automatable and recallable console and DAW parameters.

about 5:50, Reaper actually comes with synthetizers, drum machines, and some programable virtual sampling devices... The ReaSynth is really cool, you can reroute it with Pitch Shifters, Pan or whatever and kinda open a full orchestra of BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ sounds!

It's definately an amazing tool, but yea, can be very hard to get used to, especially when they change the location or functions of everything on each release

That little RGB icon is just the hidden door to the Atlantis that Reaper is. But when you go in, play it like subnautica and figure your own thing out and do what you need to achieve the goal but know this, it’s a frontier of survival and making your own workflow. GREAT for if you have your own tools to get yourself goin in Reaper! But if you go in raw, it’s like you’re building your own sticks and stones until you get what you need for what you wanna do. Love mixing and recording in this DAW. Production wise with MIDIs I do like Ableton more but the power reaper has for post manipulation and control is cosmically powerful for my workflow!

"The Linux of DAWs" is exactly right, great quote: As for me, I truly love Reaper - been using it after I left a 20 yr run using Pro Tools back in 2019 and its cut production time at least 30% with BETTER results - Reaper is the genie in the bottle, does my bidding. PS: I like your humor, subbed today. :)

reaper is unbeatable, once you learn its basics you can't go wrong

I do wish Cockos would implement an equivalent of Ableton's Instrument/Midi/FX racks, make playlists a first-class citizen (that works properly with tempo changes), and the becoming-ubiquitous clip-loop-launcher thing we find in Ableton, Bitwig and (I think) Logic.

Reaper is my main DAW. I also have Ableton Suite, but use it less. Reaper has a longer, deeper learning curve, but more and more I find myself able to do things quicker in Reaper. Mind you, I am happy in both Reaper and Ableton. FL Studio is a third choice, and one of these days I'll give Bitwig time again. Each DAW has things it makes possible, easy, hard, impossible.

I'm a metalhead who had decided to learn to write electronic music. I decided on Reaper as my first ever DAW, still not even knowing the *vocabulary* of electronic music. I figured learng to use a DAW would be less complex that learning to play an instrument. Now I'm thinking it's at least as complex as learning a new instrument. Still think that combined price and functionality (and taking into account the fact that I am *not* a minimalist, regardless of genre, my music has a lot of "stuff" in it) Reaper is the best bet, though. But I definitely think it's going to be more complex than I first thought. I do have to say this though, eventhough it doens't come with a lot of stuff in terms of synths/VST's/instruments. I've had zero trouble loading up on free synths/VST's that I like, and I've yet to come across anything that Reaper has trouble running.

"Reaper is the Linux of DAWs" is a sentiment I can get behind. The thing is, because it is so customizable, you need to learn it and mold it to your workflow before you can use it. I swear I watched 3 hours of tutorials and customizing videos before I knew how I wanted it to behave. You can replicate the workflows of other DAWs. And the community plugins are a major part of the Reaper experience. And there's additional modules to install before you can use those. It's crazy powerful, but the steepest learning curve of any DAW.

Dude subbed. love your energy. Am wholly entertained watching your first reaper experience. I went through so much of the same thought process 😂 when I tried reaper after being a pro tools fanboy and daily driver. While I stick with pro tools for my day job (film sound) I’m totally off the deep end with reaper now for all things music. A liberating platform 😊

Note: Reaper has become a standard for sound designers and is huge in the Game Sound Design arena. As its work flow, as you have seen can be customized to exactly as each person works. So while no out of the box the experience may not be stellar, but once you start customizing it and getting it set up just for your needs and work flow trust me it all falls into place. But yes it is so configurable that it can be overwhelming for some. Its custom actions can be made to basically do whatever you want making and assigning your own custom shortcuts to even match something you may be used to from another program. But I agree I like Plugins that have a nice GUI and that's not what you get with Reapers stock plugins however they all do work very well and do sound as good as paid ones but I personally prefer my 3rd part plugins.

8:26 How well I understand that *PAIN!* 😂☠

reviewing this right now! Live uh oh

"The Linux of DAWs". 😸

Can confirm Reaper does come stock with VSTi's.

🤣lol u nailed the first few secs !

Not sure about the limited FX options part tho, Reaper comes with 223 JSFX and 23 ReaPlugs lol. Although the instruments part is really lacking with 1 synth, 1 sampler and 1 very bad drum machine.